Thursday, August 30, 2007

RVing Northern California Part 1

So I left San Francisco at 1 pm on Tuesday and was going to stop for the night in Yreka. However, my motorhome Lucy (short for Lucifer or Loose Wire), decided she was as unhappy as I was being stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on 101 in 100+ degree heat. She overheated. I managed to get her off the freeway and into a gas station by breaking several vehicular laws (please don't try this). Of course, this was a gas station with a mini-mart attached: no mechanic except for one who was located two blocks down the street. Also, the man working at the gas station had no phone book and didn't know the name of the repair shop.

So I waited in the gas station at the pump (making the attendant cranky) until she cooled. I didn't want to walk to the unknown mechanic (even my heat-addled brain realized that would be silly: Lucy was overheated, not me). I went next door to an engineering firm and asked the two ladies working there if they could give me a name or phone number of the nearby mechanic. One of them knew where he was and gave me the number. I called and the man said he could take care of Lucy.

After an hour, I left and broke two more vehicular laws involving U-turns and going the wrong direction to avoid waiting at the traffic light. It was now 3 o'clock. The mechanic worked at a smog station and did look at the radiator. He admitted he had only worked on a couple of motorhomes and recommended Benjamin Tire & Brake about a mile away. He said they had a big parking area and large garage. I called them and they said to bring her in, although they couldn't work on her until the following morning.

I waited at that shop for an hour, had him stop traffic so I could make a left turn, and arrived at Benjamin Tire and Brake at 4. I filled out the estimate sheet, asked for permission to spend the night and it was granted. One block away was a small grocery store and I purchased some salads for dinner.

It was still very warm and I knew I would have trouble sleeping until the sun went down. I turned on the propane so the refrigerator wouldn't completely defrost. Then I remembered the hot/cold pack in the freezer. Ah--relief at last.

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